Formable bag construction for use as helmet liner or mattress



Jan. 1, -1963 A. 'r. BERNARDINI ETAL 3,070,802

FORMABLE BAG CONSTRUCTION FOR USE AS HELMET LINER OR MATTRESS Filed Dec. 8, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS ALBERT T. BERNARDINI" RICHARD F. MANAGAN ROBERT D. M GUIRE ATTORNEY AGENT Jan. 1, 1963 A. T. BERNARDINI ETAL FORMABLE BAG CONSTRUCTION FOR USE AS HELMET LINER OR MATTRESS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 8, 1960 INVENTORS ALBERT T. BERNARDINI RICHARD F. MANAGAN ROBERT D. MC UIRE ATTORNEY Assn? 3,070,802 Patented Jan. 1, 1963 free 3,070,802 F e LE BAG CONSTRUCTION FOR USE AS HELMET LINER OR MATTRESS Albert T. Bemardini, 1510 Austin Ave, Harlingen, Tern; Richard F. Managan, 4350 Hyland Drive, Dayton 24, Ohio; and Robert D. McGuire, 1433 Weaver St., Dayton 8, Ohio Filed Dec. 8, 1960, Ser. No. 74,742 Claims. (Cl. 2-6) (Granted under Title 35, U.S. Code (1952), see. 266) The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the United States Government for governmental purposes without payment to us of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to a formable bag construction which may be used as a protective device such as in a helmet or a contour mattress.

One object of the invention is to provide a protective formable bag construction which is light in weight.

Another object of the invention is to provide a protective formable bag construction which will provide attenuation of imposed forces.

A further object of the invention is to provide a protective formable bag construction which will act to distribute an imposed force over a large area.

These and other objects will be more fully understood from the following detailed description taken with the drawing wherein:

FIGURE 1 shows a formable mattress according to one embodiment of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged partial cutaway end view of the device of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 shows the device of FIGURE 1 in its formed condition;

FIGURE 4 shows a formable bag construction for use in a helmet;

FIGURE 5 shows a helmet with the formed bag therein, and

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion of the tube of KG. 2 along the line 66, with the mattress wall and microballoon spheres omitted.

Protective devices are needed which will contour tightly to a persons head or body so that any imposed force will be distributed equally over the head or body. Devices used for this purpose should be light weight and should have structural resiliency which will act to attenuate the imposed force. A large quantity of plastic bubbles, in the form of microballoon spheres, due to their air content results in a very small weight. These microballoon spheres due to their lightness and structural resiliency provide attenuation of imposed forces.

Referring more particularly to FIGURE 1 of the drawing, reference number 10 refers to a formable mattress having an evacuation valve 11 at one end thereof. As shown in FIGURE 2, the mattress is made of a thinwalled latex elastic material 12 and is filled with plastic air bubble material 13 which is in the form of microballoon spheres. The space between the microballoon spheres is filled with a fluent material such as air. A tube 14 shown in greater detail in FIGURE 6 surrounding the inner space of the mattress has holes therein so that the fluent may be evacuated through the tube through valve 11. The rubber tube 14 is covered with a filter material 16 to retain the plastic bubbles within the bag.

This material may be any suitable filter material such as nylon cloth or porous bronze.

The mattress is made to conform to a persons body by having the person lie or sit on the mattress or by wrapping the mattress around the person and then by evacuating the mattress to provide a formed support as shown in FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 4 shows a formable liner 18 for a helmet. The inner construction of the liner is substantially the same as shown in FIGURE 2 for the mattress. The liner is evacuated by means of a tube 19 and valve 20.

FIGURE 5 shows the liner of FIGURE 4 in its formed condition. The helmet is formed to the head by placing the liner 18 on the head with the hard shell 21 over it and evacuating the liner as described above with reference to the mattress. When the liner is inserted in the shell 21 the tube 19 may be made to pass out through a hole (not shown) in the back of shell 21.

There is thus provided a formable bag construction which may be used as a protective device.

While certain specific embodiments have been described in some detail, it is obvious that numerous changes may be made without departing from the general principles and scope of the invention.

We claim:

1. A lightweight formable bag construction comprising, a thin-walled hermetically sealed elastic container, said container being filled with plastic microballon spheres, a fluent material within said container in the space between said plastic spheres, and means for evacuating said fluent material from said container, whereby said container may be made to conform to a particular shape.

2. A lightweight formable bag construction comprising, a thin-walled hermetically sealed elastic container, said container being filled with plastic microballoon spheres, a fluent material within said container in the space between said plastic spheres, a porous rubber tube passing around the inside or" said container, and a valve attached to the end of said rubber tube outside of said container for evacuating said fluent material from said container, whereby said container may be made to conform to a particular shape.

3. A lightweight formable bag construction comprising, a thin-walled hermetically sealed elastic container, said container being filled with plastic microballoon spheres, a fluent material Within said container in the space between said plastic spheres, a porous rubber tube passing around the inside of said container, a filter surrounding said rubber tube, and a valve attached to the end of said rubber tube outside of said container for evacuating said fluent material from said container, whereby said container may be made to conform to a particular shape.

4. A formable liner for a helmet comprising, a helmet shaped thin-walled hermetically sealed elastic container, said container being filled with plastic microballoon spheres, a fluent material within said container in the space between said plastic spheres and means for evacuating said fluent material from said container, whereby said container may be inserted in a helmet shell and made to conform to the shape of the head.

5. A formable liner for a helmet comprising, a helmet shaped thin-Walled hermetically sealed elastic container,

said container being filled with plastic microballoon spheres, a fluent material within said container in the space between said plastic spheres, a porous rubber tube passing around the inside of said container, a filter surrounding said rubber tube, and means connected to said rubber tube for evacuating said fluent material from said container, whereby said container may be made to con- 5 form to a particular shape.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 379,827 Snavely Mar. 20, 1888 10 4 Woehler Sept. 7, 1943 Musilli Oct. 13, 1953 Freedlander et al. June 19, 1956 Rosenberg et a1 Aug' 20, 1957 Zinn Oct. 10, 1961 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain Aug. 25, 1896 

5. A FORMABLE LINER FOR A HELMET COMPRISING, A HELMET SHAPED THIN-WALLED HERMETICALLY SEALED ELASTIC CONTAINER, SAID CONTAINER BEING FILLED WITH PLASTIC MICROBALLOON 